CHARLOTTE — The Levine Museum of the New South has found a new home in South End after leaving its longtime Uptown location, and community members are being invited to help shape what the next chapter will look like.
Since 2022, many items have sat in an archive, and they will be moved to its new location in the heart of South End as the museum celebrates 35 years in Charlotte.
Years of art, artifacts, and photos are in the archives waiting for the new home.
“This is actually the DJ equipment to ‘Chatty Hatty,’ a very, very prominent woman of color in North Carolina, and we are just honored to have this piece,” said Joni Emry, museum board member.
The Levine Museum of the New South was founded in 1990. It moved out of its longtime Uptown home in 2022. Since then, it’s continued to have virtual programming and in-person events.
Since then, they bought the property at the intersection of South and East boulevards, Emry said.
“It was critically important for us to sit within the community, so this was a perfect prime location for us,” Emry said.
Currently, it’s where Grace Covenant Church sits.
“The church is part of Charlotte history, so let’s start there,” Emry said. “Billy Graham actually was a member of that church.”
The church houses one of the oldest organs.
“So, we want to keep that as a part of the exhibits. And what a great space to choose, right? This church is Charlotte history,” Emry said.
They want the community to weigh in as they take the next step.
“We are a history museum, and our mission is connecting the past to the present,” Emry said. “So, what you’ll see is a lot of history from Charlotte, itself, and how it’s expanded and grown over the years. So, we always look to get the stories from the community, because we are the community.”
The public is invited to the VAPA Center on North Tryon Street at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
There will be early designs, and the community can share thoughts with museum leadership and the design team.
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